Alice Cooper Recalls Stabbing Himself With Errol Flynn’s Sword

Alice Cooper recalled how he once stabbed himself in the leg with a sword that once belonged to movie star Errol Flynn. He then proceeded to treat the injury the way he thought James Bond would have.

Cooper told the story on SiriusXM, explaining that he was using the weapon as a stage prop during an unspecified show when the incident occurred. "I have this sword that I use onstage, it actually belonged to Errol Flynn,” he said. "It was one of his dueling swords in either Captain Blood or one of those movies. I’m pretty good with it. I look pretty good up there like that. I’m going to stick in the stage and I stick it – through my leg. Right through my leg. And when you have that much adrenaline onstage, it hurts but it doesn’t hurt that much.”

He then recalled how he let the sword go and swung back and forth from his leg while the wound was “spurting” with blood. “Now, the audience thinks it’s a trick, because it’s a good illusion," Cooper said. "The band knows it’s not a trick and they’re going [mimes gagging]. At the time I’m going, ‘Well, it’s in there. The audience is there. Leave it in for a while.”

Cooper said he felt “nothing” when the weapon was finally removed – until the end of the show when he began to suffer real agony. But when he was advised to have a tetanus shot, Cooper performed his own first aid instead. “I take a bottle of whisky and just pour it on there," he said. "Because that’s what James Bond would do.”

You can hear the entire story above.

Even though he escaped relatively unscathed, Cooper had a quick reply for someone who suggested the stunt should become part of the show: “I don’t think so.” Cooper’s next run of shows commences on Nov. 8 in Ireland, and continues through the U.K. and Europe until Dec. 7 North American dates run next year, from March 1-29.